Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has taken the unusual step of addressing American voters directly, urging them to change their political leadership ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
The 26-page letter, presented September 29 by IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi and published in English and Persian, portrays the United States as a declining power and repeatedly tells Americans that they have the ability to change their government through elections. The letter attacks President Trump by name, although it does not explicitly endorse the Democratic Party or tell Americans which candidates to support.
That distinction matters. The IRGC’s message can fairly be described as an attempt to influence American political attitudes, but interpreting it as a specific endorsement of Democrats goes beyond what the letter itself says.
“You are the ones who empower, with your votes, the government and allow it to do what it does,” the letter states. It then argues that Americans “can change the makeup of the government.”
The Revolutionary Guard also urges Americans to pressure Washington to distance itself from Israel. It presents that demand alongside promises of “peaceful coexistence” and an attempt to explain away Iran’s infamous “Death to America” slogan as opposition to America’s political leadership rather than hostility toward the American population.
Apparently Tehran has discovered campaign messaging.
The letter’s economic argument is especially striking. The IRGC warns Americans that the U.S. economy is supposedly approaching collapse and claims President Trump is misleading the country about its economic condition.
Meanwhile, Iran has some economic problems of its own.
On September 29, the same day the letter circulated, the U.S. dollar climbed above 2.5 million Iranian rials on Iran’s free market. Iran International reported that the rial’s decline has occurred alongside inflation, falling production, trade restrictions and shortages of foreign currency.
The IRGC simultaneously portrays Iran as having prevailed in its confrontation with the United States. The letter credits Iran’s leadership with giving the country an advantage over its opponents while describing America’s political system as corrupt and deteriorating.
American voters can decide for themselves how persuasive they find political advice coming from Tehran.
There is also an interesting diplomatic backdrop. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was awaiting an official American response, delivered through Qatari mediators, to Tehran’s proposal concerning the Strait of Hormuz. No accepted agreement had been announced when he made those remarks.
So Tehran is pursuing two tracks at once: negotiating with Washington while the Revolutionary Guard publicly appeals to Americans to change Washington’s political direction.
Whatever Americans think about President Trump, Congress, Israel, Iran or U.S. foreign policy, those debates ultimately belong to American voters.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has now made its preferences about the direction of U.S. policy unusually public. Americans can evaluate those preferences alongside the interests, record and objectives of the organization delivering them.
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